Landsat Project Description

Landsat represents the world's longest continuously acquired collection of space-based moderate-resolution land remote sensing data. Four decades of imagery provides a unique resource for those who work in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, mapping, and global change research. Landsat images are also invaluable for emergency response and disaster relief.

As a joint initiative between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA, the Landsat Project and the data it collects support government, commercial, industrial, civilian, military, and educational communities throughout the United States and worldwide.

On May 30, 2013, data from the Landsat 8 satellite (launched as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission - LDCM- on February 11, 2013) became available. As with previous partnerships, this mission continues the acquisition of high-quality data that meet both NASA and USGS scientific and operational requirements for observing land use and land change.

The Landsat project is an integral part of the Remote Sensing Missions component of the USGS Land Remote Sensing (LRS) Program.

Landsat Project Factsheet - .pdf (1.39 MB)

Land Remote Sensing Factsheet - .pdf (562 KB)

Landsat Legacy

In an effort to gather Landsat technical documentation, the NASA Landsat Project Science Office (LPSO) is working with the U.S. Geological Survey and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Library to create an archive of essential Landsat documentation. The Landsat Legacy Project houses technical-, policy- and science-related documents with an emphasis on internal technical papers.

Download Adobe Reader